WHAT IS EATING MY PLANTS? 👺 | Common Garden Pest Control using Leaf Signatures

0:00 In Today’s Episode, we will look into the leaf signatures of some of the common pests and insects in your garden. How to identify them and eliminate them from your garden. Coming up. How would you feel, when one day, on your early morning garden inspection you find part of your garden disappeared while you slept, or realize your flower buds are torn apart and very badly damaged? I am sure after seeing this, your first instinct is likely to spray some powerful chemical pesticide all over your plants to kill those culprits without even investigating further. This is not a right decision. Please Spend a little time to find out what's eating

0:45 your plants and then take necessary action to eliminate that particular pest or insect. Well, Now, We will look into Identifying some common pests by scanning their leaf signatures – that’s the leaf damage pattern they leave after feeding on your plants. Let’s begin. 1. Zig zag leaf mining Pattern: Obviously these are called Leaf miners. Leaf-miners are actually very tiny larvae of a variety of insects like flies, moths and beetles. Leaf-miners do not actually cause a siginficant injury to the infested plant, but rather give an unattractive look to the plant. This mining pattern of zig zag lines on the leaves are produced as these tiny larvae burry and eat along the infested leaves. If you

1:34 want to control these, Neem oil spray is the best organic solution. 5 to 10 ml Neem oil per litre of water along with few drops of liquid soap. Spray once or twice weekly. 2. Chewed Leaves or Slime Trails: If you see irregular-shaped holes in the leaf (but not along the edges) and if you see slime trails or lines, then most likely the Culprits are Slugs and Snails. So What’s the Solution? There are lot of remedies for slugs and snails like Hand pick and eliminate, Electric copper wire fence, Beer Trap, etc. Beer Trap is the most effective one. Pour some beer in a saucer and leave it overnight. This attracts and kills these creatures. Well now

2:20 moving on to the next similar signature. 3. Chewed Leaves along the edges: This type of leaf signature is left mostly by Leaf cutting bees. So, what’s the solution? Generally, unless it’s too extensive damage, you need not take any step to kill or drive away these bees, because they are beneficial insects and required for pollination in your garden. 4. Chewed Leaves with central holes in between veins – like Skeletonised leaves. This signature indicates Caterpillars, especially if holes are larger. This is also caused by other insects like the Beetles, Earwigs and Saw flies. So, what’s the treatment. For caterpillars, hand pick and eliminate them including their eggs from the leaves.

3:08 After doing this apply a neem oil + soap solution weekly twice. 10 ml neem oil + 10 drops of liquid soap or shampoo and spray it thoroughly including the undersides of the leaves. 5. Discoloured Leaves + Sucking Damage: This is commonly caused by Thrips and Spider Mites, common thrips are the Cuban Laurel Thrips. As you can see here, the leaf is discoloured and then folded onto itself to form a pouch to cover these creatures and its eggs. If left untreated, these thrips will multiply drastically and can cause a considerable damage to your plant. So, What’s the solution? Firstly try and remove as many leaves or trim those branches and burn them. Then, you can spray

3:56 Neem oil + liquid soap added with little clove oil or eucalyptus oil, weekly twice. If they still persist, then go for a chemical sprays like those containing Imidacloprid as the last resort. 6. Leaf Galls or Leaf Bumps: This is a strange and rare pattern which presents as tumour like boils on the leaf surface. This is considered to be due to irritation or stimulation of plant cells due to feeding or egg-laying by insects such as aphids, wasps and mites. 7. Sucking Damage and Deformed Leaves and Leaf Curls: Common Sucking pests are Aphids, Whiteflies and Mealy Bugs. The mealy bugs are very common and are found sucking the new growth and tips. Infact,

4:46 Mealybugs as well as Aphids have a symbiotic relationship with Ants which protect these pests from predators and also carry them to the plants. The Ants in turn get the honeydew sugars excreted out of their anus as their gift. So, What’s the Solution? Neem oil + Liquid soap is again the first choice, sprayed weekly twice. Another disease, related to this is the Leaf Curl virus seen in some plants like peppers and tomatoes. This is actually caused by a leaf curl virus. To treat this firstly isolate the plant. Then use this recipe to spray and completely cure this disease. Take one litre of sour butter milk. You can also take 500 ml, if you have fewer plants. Add one teaspoon or about 5 gms of Asafoetida powder

5:33 to it and mix well. Let it stay for 1 or 2 hours. Sieve this solution using a fine cloth to avoid spray bottle clogging. Spray this thoroughly over the affected plant including the underside of the leaves. Repeat this, every 3 days for 3 – 4 times. Leaf curl disease which is common in pepper and tomato plants will be completely cured by this treatment most of the times. Please Like, Share and Comment below with your feedback and queries. Happy Gardening!